


Art Is Man's Nature

by Mara



Category: Kaizoku Sentai Gokaiger
Genre: Multi
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-01-13
Updated: 2016-01-13
Packaged: 2018-05-13 17:17:31
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,155
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5710621
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Mara/pseuds/Mara
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>The Gokaiger discuss their homes.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Art Is Man's Nature

**Author's Note:**

  * For [oryx](https://archiveofourown.org/users/oryx/gifts).



Gai bit his lip as he dipped the brush into the ink for the—twentieth? something like that—time and gently began the kanji for sky. It was shaping up perfectly, broadening the way he envisioned it…

"What's that?" Luka asked, mouth right near his ear.

"Ah!" Gai flailed, splashing ink all over the page, himself, and Luka. There was a long moment of silence as Gai stared at the ruined paper, then slowly turned to look at his teammate. "Sorry?"

With a sigh, she took off her jacket and looked at the ink. Then she smacked the back of his head sharply. "It's my favorite."

"I, um, let's go find Doc and he can help us get this clean." Gai put down his brush and looked at his yukata.

When they tracked Doc down in the engine room tinkering with something that looked like abstract art, Gai had pretty much given up on getting anything done on his project.

"What is this?" Doc asked, peering at Luka's jacket and Gai's yukata.

"Ink."

Doc blinked.

"Er, for writing? Like paint?"

Whatever force allowed the automatic translation for the sentai seemed to like the word "paint" better and Doc's face cleared. "Ah. You were painting?" He took the jacket and put down his tools. Luka and Gai followed. "I think I have something that will clean this in the galley."

"He was writing. What's the language from your country called again?" Luka looked at Gai.

"Japanese. And yeah, I was sort of writing and sort of painting." They ascended up through the ship as Gai explained. "It's called calligraphy. It's where the _way_ you write the words is the art. How fast and how you shape the lines, well, it's symbolic of what you're trying to write."

Doc looked back, somewhat puzzled. "Art of words? How interesting."

"What's interesting?" Ahim leaned out a doorway as they passed.

"Gai was doing art," Luka said, throwing an arm around Ahim's shoulders and drawing her down the hall.

"That is interesting. May I see it?"

"Ah. Well." Gai scratched the back of his head. "I didn't really get to finish."

"I scared him and he splashed ink all over," Luka said, helpfully, as they went up the last set of steps toward the main room.

"Ink? Is that what this is?" Joe asked, looking up from the table, which was messier than Gai remembered. "I was wondering."

"I wasn't," Marvelous said from his chair. "Wondering, I mean."

Of course not, Gai thought with amusement. It wasn't food, so the captain was hardly going to get worked up about it.

"This is art?" Doc examined the unfinished calligraphy. "It's very…flat."

"It's not, I mean, I was just getting started and—"

"No, I meant that literally. I never thought about art being so two-dimensional."

Everyone looked at Doc, who turned red and ducked his head. "Two dimensions are normal for reading or working, but I thought art is usually three-dimensional or four-dimensional."

"Huh." Gai thought about that one. "So if I made this into a sculpture, that would make more sense to you."

Doc nodded, then took Luka's jacket off toward the galley.

"I remember being in a museum at home once, before…well, before." Luka sat in one of the chairs, an odd expression in her face, something between longing and sadness.

After everyone held their breath for a long moment, Marvelous kicked a leg where it hung over the chair arm. "Did you steal anything?" he asked.

Gai choked on nothing at all and Joe smacked him on the back a few times. 

"No, idiot." Luka glared at Marvelous (but Gai noticed she no longer looked sad). "It was a school trip. There were these giant landscapes that were so huge you could barely look at them as a whole. One was nothing but the contrast between the orange of the hills against the blue of the sky."

"It sounds lovely," Ahim said softly, sitting next to Luka and taking her hand.

"I don't remember going to a museum," Joe said, going over to lean against the column next to Marvelous.

"Maybe there was art in your home?" Gai asked. He didn't want this conversation to ever end.

A frown marred Joe's face. "I don't think…well, there were the plants outside."

"A garden?" Gai asked.

"Not exactly. Not like we've seen on Earth." Joe frowned harder, clearly struggling. "I didn't pay much attention at the time."

Ahim sighed. "We never do pay attention to the important things at the time."

Gai nodded.

"She grew the plants so they made certain shapes, like words or symbols for things." Joe's face cleared. "My mother, I mean."

"Wow, that's cooler than my calligraphy!" Gai looked at his spattered paper sadly. 

"What was it supposed to be?" Luka asked.

Gai felt his face get warm. "Well…I was trying to make something to symbolize the Galleon, using the kanji for sky and ship and freedom. This was only a really early attempt."

Ahim leaned over and patted his knee. "You can try again."

"What about you?" Gai asked her. "What kind of art was there on your world?"

"Paintings and sculpture were popular, as were textiles," Ahim said. "I was a patron of theater, though."

"What kind of theater?" Doc asked, coming out of the galley.

"My favorite is a kind of dance and music that tells the history of different countries." Her face lit up. "Each performance uses special clothing created to symbolize the people who live there." She turned to Gai. "Something like what you're wearing now, but cut much broader."

"Speaking of that," Doc said, "it's time for me to clean it."

"Oh! I'll just go ch—"

"Nonsense," Marvelous said, somehow having moved from his chair to directly behind Gai without making any noise. "We'll just take it off right here. And Doc can clean it later."

"Errrr…" Gai looked around at the lascivious faces of his team. "I guess so."

"I'm glad you agree," Marvelous said, grinning.

As Joe and the captain carefully tugged off his yukata, Gai looked at Marvelous. "Um. You didn't tell us about art where you come from."

Joe rolled his eyes and kissed Gai.

Gai struggled, mumbling against Joe's lips. "Wait, but I want to know!"

Marvelous sighed, pausing in pulling off his shirt. "There's not a lot of space on a spaceship, even if you've got a fleet, because everything extra is cargo."

"So there was no art?"

"I didn't say that." Marvelous shrugged. "We prefer our art more…ephemeral."

"Ephemeral?" Ahim asked over Doc's shoulder.

"Mmm. We make art and then we eat it. I've never understood this obsession with art you can't eat when you're done. Seems a waste to me."

As Luka knelt in front of him, Gai could only think that this explained a _lot_ about Marvelous. And then he was done thinking for a while.

\--end--


End file.
